Posted: Sept. 14, 2009 |(0) Comments

Defending state girls singles tennis champion Aly Coran and her Homestead teammates have dominated competition in the first month of the season, winning four tournaments handily, including all seven flights in the talent-laden Nicolet Sweet 16 Invitational last weekend.

But make no mistake, Coran does understand humility. Over the summer, she played in the National Hardcourts in San Diego, the Summer Zonal meet in Missouri (where she and Homestead teammate Carly Peck helped her Midwest-based squad win the team title), and in the Midwest Closed Tournament.

"You go to meets like that, everyone is good," the sophomore said. "Nothing is easy."

So, will the discovery by area and state rivals, that Coran and some of her Highlanders teammates can lose at times give them hope that they can upset the defending state team champions before the season ends?

Maybe.

"It's a pretty high wall to climb," said Nicolet coach Tim Koppa, whose team finished second in the Sweet 16 and was deceptively competitive in a 6-1 North Shore loss to the Highlanders the day before the tournament, "but I thought we showed to ourselves that we can play with these guys, because we are getting better and better."

Or maybe not.

"We're not taking anything for granted," Highlanders coach Jackie Egelhoff said. "We're going to stay serious and focused. … And we're working hard on trying to improve everyday."

Coran sets tone

That, it would appear, the Highlanders have done, as they looked brilliant in sweeping the individually bracketed Sweet 16, the only such major tournament in the state (almost all others are of the easier to set up dual meet variety).

Coran swept past four opponents to lead the way, including still another win over returning state place-winner Jennifer Winston of Nicolet in the finals (6-1, 6-4).

She likes seeing competition at this level (seven top 10 teams in division I or 2 were at the meet including all of the top four in D1) and takes nothing for granted as a defending champion.

"Last year, I was a newcomer so there wasn't a lot of pressure," Coran said. "This year I and the team have something to defend and that puts more pressure on us. Pressure is hard, but it is also a privilege. We're going to work as hard as we can to repeat."

And to do that, they'll need upsets such as what the first doubles team of Brittany Watchmaker and Corey Mattson did in knocking off the flight's top seed from DSHA 6-4, 6-2, in the finals.

"That win was thrilling," Egelhoff said, "because they (the DSHA pair) are considered the team to beat (in state)."

All told, the Highlanders dropped just two sets the entire tournament, both of them by the second doubles team of Dani Merar and Kristin Swenson. The pair had to go three sets in both the semis against Nicolet and in the finals versus DSHA.

Other flight champions in singles for Homestead included Peck, Sophia Lococo and Megan Geschke. At third doubles, Christy Kritner and Alison Berman were also titlists for Homestead.

Egelhoff thought her team did a good job of maintaining concentration in an event that stretched the mileage budgets of all involved to the limits, as courts ranging from Nicolet, Bay, Homestead, Brookfield, University School, and even Milwaukee Vincent were all used to play the myriad number of matches involved in the two-day event.

"We'd much rather be all together, but it still worked out well," she said.

Nicolet team mirrors coach

And Koppa himself had no complaints. He said his team kept its competitive fire despite falling again to the Highlanders.

All seven of the Knights entries made it to the semifinals and all four singles players made finals including (in order) Winston, Becca Stern, Rachelle Brick and Emma Wathen (who was competitive in the final with Geschke, despite just coming off the court of a three hour and 42 minute semifinal with a Brookfield Central opponent).

Both the second doubles team of Erin Miller and Sari Edelman and the third squad of Erica Lurie and Rebecca Raj, took third. Koppa said the team is looking forward to another chance at Homestead in the future.

"This is one of the coolest teams I've had in sometime," he said. "They're like me. They don't take well to losing."

For Bay, the meet was not as much of a success.

"From the team perspective, it was a little disappointing," Blue Dukes coach Phil Kelbe said. "We were on the cusp of getting third and we wound up fifth. We just didn't win the matches we needed to."

The top finishes for Bay were all in singles included (in order) Sophie Lillie (fourth), Kylie Davidson (fifth), Natalie Harland (third) and Arden Montgomery (fourth).

Highlanders Dominate

Homestead makes short work of the Nicolet Sweet 16

TEAM SCORES (top 10): Homestead 56, Nicolet 37, DSHA 30, Brookfield Central 26, Whitefish Bay 25, Green Bay Southwest 21, Marshfield 20, Arrowhead 19, Eau Claire Memorial 18 and Kenosha Tremper 15.

QUOTE: "This is a good tournament, because here's a chance to play more kids at their own levels. It's a lot of running around, but it is worth it. I really appreciate that Tim (Koppa) puts it all together. It has to be a lot of work."

- Bay coach Phil Kelbe